Riyadh
(AFP) - Riyadh-based carrier Flynas has announced plans to recruit Saudi women
to work as co-pilots and flight attendants for the first time, just months
after the kingdom lifted a decades-long ban on female motorists.
Saudi
Arabia in June ended a longstanding ban on women driving cars as Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman seeks to improve women's participation in the workforce.
Women are
not legally barred from working in the aviation sector, but jobs as flight
attendants with Saudi carriers have largely been held by female foreign workers
from countries such as the Philippines.
Nearly
1,000 Saudi women have applied for co-pilot positions with Flynas in the past
24 hours, a spokesman for the airline told AFP on Thursday, as the
ultra-conservative Islamic kingdom relaxes gender restrictions amid the
far-reaching liberalisation drive.
"Flynas
is keen to empower Saudi women to play an important role in the kingdom's
transformation," the low-cost carrier said Wednesday in its call for
applications.
"Women...
are an essential part of the airline's success."
The
recruitment drive comes just days after Flyadeal, another low-cost Saudi
carrier, began posting jobs for Saudi women to work as flight attendants.
Despite
being allowed to drive cars, women still require permission from their fathers,
husbands or other male relatives to travel and to get married under the
kingdom's strict guardianship system.
No comments:
Post a Comment